HANOI - Hundreds of Vietnamese on Sunday protested outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi China's deployment of an oil rig that has triggered a tense naval standoff and raised fears of confrontation in contested South China Sea waters.

Scores of security officers kept a close watch on about 500 demonstrators as they shouted anti-Chinese slogans and held up banners in a park across from the embassy. The protest was state-sanctioned as it also included signs "Long Live the Communist Party." (AP)